intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.0GHz : OCZ Vendetta 2
Diablotek GeForce 8600GT 1GB
OCZ Reaper 2x1GB PC3-10666 6-6-6-20
WD 74GB Raptor (10K), WD 500GB CaviarSE16 (7.2K)
PC Power& Cooling 750W Silencer Quad Crossfire Edition
Lite-On 20x DVD±R/W SATA
Lian-Li PC-A77
Arctic Cooling MX-2
GELID Solutions GC-1
Both Arctic Cooling MX-2 and GELID Solutions GC-1 were freshly applied for testing in this review. When applying compounds, the same methods for preparing the CPU, spreading the compound, and attaching the CPU cooler were followed. Idle situations consisted of a blank Windows XP desktop 1 hour after a cold boot and a 1 hour OCCT stress test. The preliminary stress test is to ensure that the CPU is not still cool from the clean boot. To load the processor, I used a 1 hour OCCT stress test. I have found that OCCT heats up the CPU more effectively than any other 100% load situation, including Prim95, Folding@Home, and a variety of other stability and stress tests. CPUID's Hardware Monitor was used to record the maximum temperature each core of the CPU hit during the idle and load situations. The graph below displays the hottest core (core 0 in every circumstance) from testing. A results table is included simply to provide information on the other cores.
A close call for sure! Continue as we wrap up this review with some conclusions.
